By Mike McClary

Posts tagged “Jim Leyland”

Catching up on this and that while the temperature hits 111 on my back porch — in the shade. Earlier today I tweeted the recap of the June 29, 2003, Tigers/Diamondbacks game at Comerica Park. The most notable nugget from the boxscore was Jose Valverde‘s six-pitch, four-strike, three-batter save. What a difference 10 years can make. Of the players appearing in that game, only Valverde, Andres Torres, Ramon Santiago and Fernando Rodney are still in the majors. Then-Dbacks manager Bob Brenly is back in Arizona’s TV booth (from where he was plucked in 2001 to replace Buck Showalter). Alan Trammell and his Tigers bench coach Kirk Gibson have swapped roles and now lead the Diamondbacks. And, we know where Jose Valverde is these days.…

While Tigers fans were reeling from the news of Victor Martinez‘s season-ending knee injury, owner Mike Ilitch (likely to the dismay of Dave Dombrowski) was having back-channel conversations with agent Scott Boras. As we’d soon find out, those conversations centered on the last remaining free-agent slugger that could soothe the wounds of losing Martinez and inject more oomph in the lineup. Nine days later, ba-da-boom, Prince Fielder is the Detroit Tigers first baseman … for the next nine years. Shortly after the Martinez news, Dombrowski and Jim Leyland brushed aside any interest in Fielder who was being rumored to end up with the Rangers, Mariners or Nationals, among others. After the Tigers announced last Wednesday morning that Martinez was lost for the upcoming season…

Ok. Let’s think about this. Jim Leyland said in his post-game interview that he and his coaching staff will discuss the closer situation. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll discuss it and I’d love to hear someone say this: “Describe an ideal scenario for us to bring Jose Valverde into a game.” If we’re lucky, the answer is followed by a long, long, crickets-filled pause. And then another. I can’t imagine such a scenario. Maybe in a blow out – with the Tigers way behind. I guess. But wait, the Tigers won this game, people – 6-4 in 12 innings. Unlike Wednesday’s crushing Game 4 loss to the A’s, they escaped the opponent’s half of the ninth and were able to hang on with some stellar…

There are some 2-1 or 3-1 games that you know are too close for comfort. Others, not so much. [callout title=The Gist]ALDS Game 1 Tigers 3– A’s 2 W:Justin Verlander (1-0) L:Jarrod Parker (0-1) Save:Jose Valverde (1) HR:Alex Avila (1) Boxscore Highlights[/callout] I don’t know about you, but after the Tigers took a 2-1 lead over Jarrod Parker and the A’s in Game 1 of the ALDS it seemed to me like it would be tough for Oakland to score — thanks to the generous strike zone offered by umpire Jim Reynolds. And that’s only because Justin Verlander made it through the first couple of innings without suffering much damage. Coming into Game 1 my fear was Verlander would be the amped-up version we’ve…

With the Tigers marching toward three million in attendance for 2012, this might seem more than borderline preposterous. But stick with me. I lobbed a tweet last week about how Tigers fans are coming unglued online and on the air. I could even take it a step further and suggest the faithful are assuming the personality traits – obsession, paranoia, rage – of Yankees fans. Last Thursday morning, listening to Power Alley on MLB Network Radio, a Tigers fan called in to rail on Joaquin Benoit and how he just can’t be trusted, Leyland shouldn’t use him in the 8th inning anymore. Why? Well, he allowed four runs to score in an 8-6 win over the White Sox. And, well, because. Hosts Mike Ferrin…

In 1984, the Tigers made the no-brainer decision to leave southpaw reliever Sid Monge off the playoff roster. Monge had an undistinguished half seaon with the Tigers after being picked up off waivers from the Padres — 1-0, 4.25 ERA in 19 games. He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to. This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.…

Remember in 2009 when Ozzie Guillen held back Jake Peavy so the righthander could face the Tigers in the final weekend? I was livid … because Guillen was making the Tigers’ road to a division title that much harder. But, as much as it pains me to admit this, I respected him for putting his best lineup out there even if the games didn’t matter for the White Sox. Different story today. With word out of Anaheim that Mike Scioscia has pulled Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana from their starts against the Rangers tonight, I’m furious at the Angels manager, someone I’ve always respected and whose teams I enjoy watching. Yes, his team’s been eliminated but by pitching rookies Tyler Chatwood tonight and Garrett Richards tomorrow Scioscia’s…